Mother Earthkinhttp://motherearthkin.com
Daily Magic from A Mama WitchSun, 09 Dec 2018 05:03:05 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.1http://motherearthkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cropped-goddess-1500599_1280-1-1-32x32.jpgMother Earthkinhttp://motherearthkin.com
3232Taking Care of Tools: The Witch’s Cauldronhttp://motherearthkin.com/the-witchs-cauldron/
http://motherearthkin.com/the-witchs-cauldron/#respondThu, 06 Dec 2018 22:31:32 +0000http://motherearthkin.com/?p=2431The cauldron is a classic symbol and tool of the witch. Often times, this one is overlooked because the cauldron has been substituted with the chalice. Plus, if you are in a cramped dorm or limited to your bedroom, a big cauldron can be hard to keep around. Fortunately, they do make smaller ones to… Read More Taking Care of Tools: The Witch’s Cauldron

]]>The cauldron is a classic symbol and tool of the witch. Often times, this one is overlooked because the cauldron has been substituted with the chalice. Plus, if you are in a cramped dorm or limited to your bedroom, a big cauldron can be hard to keep around. Fortunately, they do make smaller ones to keep on the altar. (link) Both the chalice and cauldron are symbols of the goddess, however their practical use in magic differ greatly.

The cauldron is a classic motif of the womb of the goddess. Part of the primordial soup, she stirs and cooks and adds a bit of salt or rosemary until we are ready to be born again.

But what can you use your cauldron for?

1.You can burn things in it.

You can burn smaller items, like paper or herbs. Fill the cauldron about half way with sand first, then set your spell paper on fire and lay it in there. (Keep in mind even though you have some sand or dirt the cauldron can still get really hot.) The spell work will then transform and be sent out into the world. You can also burn a candle down using this method.

2. You can cook in a cauldron.

Obviously, the one linked above is too small for that! But you can invest in a cast iron pot or you could always bless and use a kitchen pot. Truthfully, if you are doing a lot of kitchen witchin’ you should bless those tools anyways. Throw together a soup or stew in order to help get rid of a cold or the sniffles. Say a prayer and pour your intention into it.

How to keep it physically clean.

Most cauldrons are made of cast iron these days. For cleaning, you want to use tiny bit of water, a wedge of lemon, and a handful of chunky salt as an abrasive. You *could* use soap but it can’t linger and cast iron cannot be left to soak in water. Once you are done scouring and cleaning, dry it very thoroughly. Cast iron is very porous and can rust easily. When all the cleaning is done, be sure to re-season it for use.

How to keep it magically clean.

While doing the physical cleaning, imagine dumping all the negative out of it. When you pour the lemon and salt water out see in your mind’s eye any grey dirty energy leaving.

When you re-season the cauldron, imagine filling the porous material with love and care. Set your intention on honoring your tool that serves you so well. Once you are done, give it and any other spirit helpers a thanks for their help.

Choosing and blessing your tools should always bring a joyous feeling. But finding what truly works for you, be it a classic cast iron or a good soup pot, is truly magickal for your path and will serve you better in the long run. Remember to always keep them clean, both physically and magickally, and they will serve you well.

]]>http://motherearthkin.com/the-witchs-cauldron/feed/0Instant Pot Recipe: Asiago Chicken and Mushroom Risottohttp://motherearthkin.com/instant-pot-recipe-asiago-chicken-and-mushroom-risotto/
http://motherearthkin.com/instant-pot-recipe-asiago-chicken-and-mushroom-risotto/#respondSat, 01 Dec 2018 19:59:47 +0000http://motherearthkin.com/?p=2419The Instant Pot has seriously changed the way we meal prep around here.How does a meal in 20 minutes sound? To me, it’s music to my soul. Especially when you’ve got variable schedules, kiddos to pick up, and a husband who works late. Sometimes, getting a hot meal on the table is a lot of… Read More Instant Pot Recipe: Asiago Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

]]>The Instant Pot has seriously changed the way we meal prep around here.How does a meal in 20 minutes sound? To me, it’s music to my soul. Especially when you’ve got variable schedules, kiddos to pick up, and a husband who works late. Sometimes, getting a hot meal on the table is a lot of effort and the last thing I want to do!

(Disclaimer: Below are some affiliate links which means if you choose to buy I would receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please see my Privacy and Disclosure Policy for more details.)

Truthfully, some nights it’s feed the kiddo and maybe eat a bowl of cereal later. This is not entirely in line with my healthy eating and healthy body plan. So to minimize those evenings I do two things:

1. We plan our meals.

Currently, we are only about a week in advanced in our planning and when you consider that dinner used to be planned, bought, and made all in one day, I think we’ve made improvements!

2. Select delicious easy recipes.

The ones that do not seem daunting when it comes time to prepare the meal or eat it. Because 600PM with zero dinners prepped is not the time to try and make a plan and execute it. We only have some many decision tokens in a day and we must spend them wisely.

Ever since my beautiful mother-in-law (No sarcasm here, seriously!) gifted our home with an Instant Pot we have been seriously hooked on any recipe that we can do with it. So much so we bought another one from an Amazon sale!

It’s times like this that I think back to 20 year-old Beth and how silly she would think 31-year old Beth would sound.

This dish is very warm and very much akin to comfort food. Arborio rice with chicken and savory mushrooms!

This recipe was adapted from this lovely site. I have made a few changes from her recipe that I found I liked more.

Instant Pot Asiago Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

2 pounds bite-sized chunked chicken breast

1/4 cup flour

2.5 cups chicken broth

.5 cup white wine

2 cloves chopped garlic

2 cups Arborio rice

8 oz sliced Bella mushrooms

4 tbs butter

1 cup milk

4 oz shredded Asiago Cheese

Instructions

Coat raw chicken with flour and set aside.

Place the Instant pot on saute. Toss in butter, and garlic and cook till garlic is translucent but don’t burn butter about 1 minute.

Next, add mushrooms, wine, and broth.

Add rice and stir.

Place chicken on top.

Close the lid and place on manual high pressure for 10 minutes.

Do a quick release. Stir in milk and Asiago cheese.

Stir and Serve.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe and I hope it helps you fall in love with your instant pot too!

]]>http://motherearthkin.com/instant-pot-recipe-asiago-chicken-and-mushroom-risotto/feed/0October’s Money Goalshttp://motherearthkin.com/octobers-money-goals/
http://motherearthkin.com/octobers-money-goals/#respondThu, 01 Nov 2018 19:31:53 +0000http://motherearthkin.com/?p=2410Welcome to this series that I call: Prior Month Money Goals Post. Basically at the top of a new month, I evaluate my budget and money goals and see where we are at. This isn’t meant to be a punishment but rather it’s an evaluation and moment of honesty and clarity. If we don’t know… Read More October’s Money Goals

Basically at the top of a new month, I evaluate my budget and money goals and see where we are at. This isn’t meant to be a punishment but rather it’s an evaluation and moment of honesty and clarity. If we don’t know where our money goes, we can’t be sure we spent it how we wanted to. Ideally these posts accomplish two things.

1. Accountability.

Putting it out there will hold me accountable for my spending and decision making. By doing an analysis, I’ll see where I may have made a mistake or perhaps miscalculated something. When it’s all said and done, I’ll also have to justify why my Starbucks bill was so high. No one wants to see that!

2. It makes me human.

Being behind a screen, and possibly thousands of miles away makes it incredibly difficult to create a human connection. My goal is to always feel like a friend or confidant. Maybe even a mentor. I want you to know that my life isn’t 100% bliss and smooth sailing. It’s not. Ever. Any other painted picture is just a lie.

So on to October 2018’s Analysis.

First the Budget, then the Money Goals.
Our personal budget is incredibly detailed. More so than probably necessary but I found that breaking things into smaller and smaller categories let me get to the heart of our spending. It wasn’t enough to say we spent $x on eating out. I wanted to know how much I spent on work lunches vs my husband vs together. For my report purposes, I’ll condense some categories down. There are some that just don’t change month to month, like our car payments or rental payments. Our monthly minimum debt payments don’t change either but that putting more money towards those is one of my goals.

Overall we did pretty well. With my husband being out of work for 6 weeks, due to surgery, honestly I’m surprised we made it through as best as we did.

Money Goals:

Goal #1: Do not pull from savings (Fail)
While this one is a fail it’s not the worst fail we’ve ever had. With husband out of work for 6 weeks, the month of October was not going to look pretty. We moved $750 from our savings to cover ourselves.Next Month? Let’s start small. Put $100 in savings. Rather than put $300 in only to take it back out.

Goal #2: Keep dining out spending low!
When I broke my category down even further I found that we spent the most in joint eating out specifically GrubHub. Perhaps with some meal planning we can reduce that even further!Next Month’s Goal: Keep it low and meal plan!

Goal #3: Put money toward’s Husband’s medical credit card so we pay it off before interest hits. (SUCCESS!)
We put $300 dollars towards his medical bill in order to pay it off. This decision was made before we realized that he would have to take 6 weeks off. I would not have done this had I known he wouldn’t be cleared.Next Month’s Goal: Put $200 toward that medical credit card. With Little Bear’s surgery coming up and being put on that card I want to make sure we stay on top of this and don’t go into the Interest zone.

As always this is meant to be self reflective and not a stick to beat myself with! Good luck with your own money spending and its never too late to evaluate yourself.

]]>http://motherearthkin.com/octobers-money-goals/feed/0Why Pretty Litter is Actually Amazinghttp://motherearthkin.com/why-pretty-litter-is-actually-amazing/
http://motherearthkin.com/why-pretty-litter-is-actually-amazing/#respondTue, 23 Oct 2018 18:39:13 +0000http://motherearthkin.com/?p=2399So, you may or may not have heard of this new phenomenon called Pretty Litter. Once or twice, it has probably popped up on your Facebook newsfeed or even on a various ad or two when scrolling through your favorite blog. (Disclaimer: Below are some affiliate links which means if you choose to buy I… Read More Why Pretty Litter is Actually Amazing

]]>So, you may or may not have heard of this new phenomenon called Pretty Litter. Once or twice, it has probably popped up on your Facebook newsfeed or even on a various ad or two when scrolling through your favorite blog.

(Disclaimer: Below are some affiliate links which means if you choose to buy I would receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please see my Privacy and Disclosure Policy for more details.)

Pretty Litter is a once a month delivery of highly specialized cat litter. Now, I know what you may be thinking. It’s litter. They go pee and poop in it and it’s a huge mess that you have to clean. Why would you buy a special one?

Below are my top 5 reasons that I am in love with Pretty Litter.

Reason 1: For Their Health.

PrettyLitter is a highly specialized formula of litter that looks pinkish and stays that way pretty much the whole time. However, if your little one is has a bladder infection or kidney failure, the compounds in PrettyLitter will change from the pink color to bright blue or green. It can also change orange or red if a different type of urinary tract infection is occuring. And it changes instantly! Several customers have stated how they never knew their kitten was having an issue until using this litter. It’s saving lives.

Reason 2. For Your Health.

This litter uses non-clumping crystals to absorb urine. Clay litter often contains bentonite which will expand when in contact with liquid. This clay gets everywhere and often sticks to cats paws. Pretty Litter is less dusty and does not produce as much waste as clay litter. Bonus? It’s 80% lighter than any bag of clay litter.

Reason 3. Less Odor and Mess to Clean

The crystals in PrettyLitter are very efficient at keeping odors contained and eliminating urine. This means that you only have poop to scoop when cleaning your box! It has been a real life saver around our house when there’s already a very limited time to do chores.

Reason 4: Save Money Each Month

Cat litter is one of those once or twice a month buys that can be hard to track. We are a two cat household and we were spending about $50 dollars a month in litter alone!

I love them but man, can pets get expensive quick! That’s why when I found PrettyLitter I wanted to give it a try immediately.

For a once a month delivery, that comes with 2 bags of PrettyLitter, I pay $39. An $11 savings may not be a big deal to you but not only am I saving on a litter that seems to do everything; I am also having it delivered to me. I don’t have to guess if we need litter or not when I’m out at the store with my son in tow.

Reason 5: You Owe it To Yourself and Your Furbabies.

You owe it to yourself to make your life a little easier and little more stress-free. Unfortunately, our fur babies are really good at hiding when something’s wrong. Often times, we’ll discover their issue too late. However with this litter, you don’t have to question your baby’s health. And what’s more? The litter is cleaner and safer for them and for you to have in your home.

Still not sure? Here is a link to 10% off your first order! You can give it a whirl and see why I’m raving about it.

]]>http://motherearthkin.com/why-pretty-litter-is-actually-amazing/feed/0Debt Snowball vs Debt Avalanche Methodshttp://motherearthkin.com/debt-snowball-vs-debt-avalanche-methods/
http://motherearthkin.com/debt-snowball-vs-debt-avalanche-methods/#respondMon, 22 Oct 2018 19:30:36 +0000http://motherearthkin.com/?p=2386Check out this Debt Snowball!! I’m sure you’ve seen that in a million places now. Every time you search for answers to debt you inevitably come back to this phrase. Really, it’s for a good reason, I promise. But why do we even have debt? My own debt is a complicated mess of no discipline,… Read More Debt Snowball vs Debt Avalanche Methods

I’m sure you’ve seen that in a million places now. Every time you search for answers to debt you inevitably come back to this phrase. Really, it’s for a good reason, I promise.

But why do we even have debt?

My own debt is a complicated mess of no discipline, medical and car issues, then marriage. My life has had twists and turns and plenty of curveballs that have landed me in my mess. But I am climbing out of it. Bit by bit my debt is getting paid off and is staying that way due to a good budget and my pay of plan. So again, why is the debt snowball so wildly popular?

Why does everyone seem to be on the Debt Snowball train?

Well honestly it’s a really good way to quickly pay off debts especially credit card debts and other small balance items you may have. (Small being relative. For now, I’m considering $5k and under small)

So briefly, a debt snowball is a method of paying down your debt that takes equal parts discipline and calculation. Yes… I said the dirty word. Calculation. Don’t worry, we’ll go over that in a few minutes and hopefully you will not find it terribly painful.

A debt snowball is paying the minimum payment on each of your debts except for one. Usually, this one is either your smallest balance debt or it is your highest interest debt. For this debt, you would put any extra dollars that you can into a payment. So say you stopped drinking your morning coffee out and made it at home. That’s roughly an extra $4 a day times 5 days a week giving you = $20 a week to set aside for this payment. In one month, that’s a $100 payment!

(Note: I used to be a to-go coffee latte junkie. It was…well… painful. Painful to quit and painful to admit I had an issue.)

Alright, so when you make that extra $100 payment you are going to quickly eliminate that small balance. From there, you will take the minimum payment you were making on that debt plus that extra $100 you found and put it towards the next debt. Like a snowball rolling down hill, it just gets bigger and adds momentum to your pay off plan.

From a witch’s view: This gathering of momentum is great for building energy and pushing towards your goals.

But How Do I Know Which Debt to Pay First?

(Disclaimer first! I am an accountant but I am not YOUR accountant. None of this is specific advice for your situation and I am not responsible for any decisions made nor do I guarantee any results.)

However, I think you’ll find you’ll be well informed after this next paragraph.

But first! Homework.
Gather together a list of the following information:
-Name of Debt (credit car name, account, etc)
-Amount left to Pay
-Interest Rate
-Current minimum payment

So I mentioned early on there are two ways of choosing which debt goes first you can do small balance pay off or you can do high interest rate pay off. Lets cover small debt pay-off first.

SMALL DEBT PAY OFF(Debt Snowball)

Take your list of debts and sort them by Amount Left to Pay.

Begin by making the minimum payment and any extra that you can put to this. Even if it’s only $5 it is better than $0 as you pay one off roll the payment into the next then the next.

One of the benefits to the Small Debt Pay-Off method is you see success very quickly. Your snowball usually gets rolling faster earlier on. This kind of success is incredibly motivating especially when you’ve been in a debt slump for awhile.

HIGH INTEREST RATE PAY OFF(Debt Avalanche)

One of the reasons for choosing high interest rate pay off is getting rid of debt that takes forever to pay off. Each month, you are charge your interest rate and that gets added to the debt. It can make a mountain out of a mole hill really quickly.

From a witch’s view: These suden burst of energy can be very driving. If you find that you need bursts of motivation, this may be the method for you!

To do the High Interest Rate Pay-Off:

Take your list of debts and sort them by interest rate, highest to lowest.
This will give you your order of payoff. Like before, pay the minimum plu whatever extra you can towards this debt. As this gets paid off roll the payment forward to the next.

One of the benefits of taking this route is getting rid of high interest debt will help you not pay as much in the long run. Higher interest rates will drive your debt everytime.. Depending on the amount to pay off, you may not see success as quickly. However, this is a good way to not spend as much money on your debt.

Again, you can see how each method builds their own momentum. Whichever method you choose, having the discipline to stick with it and see it through is critical. Debt..is hard. In our society, which is incredibly debt driven, it can be difficult to manage. Especially when the unexpected comes up again and again and again. Between kids, medical issues, and car break downs, having debt becomes necessary sometimes. But you can come out the other side and you can have that debt-free life.

]]>http://motherearthkin.com/debt-snowball-vs-debt-avalanche-methods/feed/0Baby Proofing for 6-9 Month Oldshttp://motherearthkin.com/baby-proofing-for-6-9-month-olds/
http://motherearthkin.com/baby-proofing-for-6-9-month-olds/#respondSun, 14 Oct 2018 20:09:34 +0000http://motherearthkin.com/?p=2364We’ve reached one of my most anticipated and yet dreaded milestones. He has learned how to crawl! Send help and all the foam padding! This freedom-type milestone is incredibly emotional for me. My baby is less like a baby and closer to the toddler stage. After all, our goal as parents is to make ourselves… Read More Baby Proofing for 6-9 Month Olds

]]>We’ve reached one of my most anticipated and yet dreaded milestones. He has learned how to crawl! Send help and all the foam padding!

This freedom-type milestone is incredibly emotional for me. My baby is less like a baby and closer to the toddler stage. After all, our goal as parents is to make ourselves obsolete. Typically this milestone isn’t reached so quickly but babies are odd like that. They will focus fire on a skill while ignoring all others.

At this point in the game, it’s all about exploration and control. If he wants to move or go somewhere he is capable of flexing his will.

(Disclaimer: Below are some affiliate links which means if you choose to buy I would receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please see my Privacy and Disclosure Policy for more details.)

Making his room and play areas baby-proof is essential now. Since we are apartment living, we have to take some special considerations when “nailing” things to the walls.

The very first thing we purchased were these wall plug covers. Everyone says not to get them or they aren’t as good as the sliding plate covers. I’m telling you they are lying. I can’t hardly pry one off. Little Bear won’t be getting through them any time soon.

Next we got these straps to hold our crib and our dresser to the wall. While I have no doubts that the crib won’t fall over, the dresser was more of our worry since its more top heavy.

We did some baby safety with bath time. One of Little Bear’s favorite tricks is to stand in the tub and bang his stacking cup around. With this bath mat, he has a much better grip when in the bath and with the faucet cover we can play pretend and make sure any sharp edges are covered.

Install the hand rail for pull up practice. While this isn’t strictly a safety item, we knew we wanted a for sure easy way for Little Bear to practice pulling up and assist him in taking his first small steps. We can easily re-drill and move this bar to each height that is needed

Metal Baby Gate Pretty self explanatory. We have a gate to his room to keep him corralled in a safe area. While we are not leaving him unsupervised at this time, it helps establish the boundary early on and (mostly) prevents the cats from laying all over everything in his room.

Along with the baby gate came this door jam blocker to prevent pinched fingers. Again, while its not a life or death safety item it prevents those small ouches that can occur in the 5 seconds you turned around to get something to drink.

After running my wonderful husband ragged, we feel we are set (at least for now) on our baby proofing. Just a couple of small items and a dose of creativity and now Little Bear can exercise his will and freedom within reason. Till next time, Loves!

(Have you just stumbled upon my blog? Check out my story and feel free to jump into these categories.)

]]>http://motherearthkin.com/baby-proofing-for-6-9-month-olds/feed/0Mama’s Witchcraft: Go Away Sprayhttp://motherearthkin.com/mamas-witchcraft-go-away-spray/
http://motherearthkin.com/mamas-witchcraft-go-away-spray/#respondThu, 11 Oct 2018 20:41:06 +0000http://motherearthkin.com/?p=2368Hello, Lovelies! I want to welcome you to my mother’s witchcraft section. Recently, I ran out of my lovely sage spray that I use to cleanse my home and an idea struck me. Why not get the kiddos involved with cleansing the house? So, we developed a Monster Spray for their bedrooms that double as… Read More Mama’s Witchcraft: Go Away Spray

]]>Hello, Lovelies! I want to welcome you to my mother’s witchcraft section. Recently, I ran out of my lovely sage spray that I use to cleanse my home and an idea struck me.

Why not get the kiddos involved with cleansing the house? So, we developed a Monster Spray for their bedrooms that double as a home cleansing spray too!

I forget where I first heard of the Monster Spray idea but most children go through some phase of afraid of the dark or experience apprehension about bed time.

From my observations, research, and reading, (like we all do when you are a new mom)I found that a lot of the bed time hesitations have to do with a lack of control about the situation paired with a kid’s wonderful active imagination.

They come up with the best bed time stories sometimes!

But really who could blame them when the odd street lights casts shadows through the windows and the big AC clicks on and off or even a random critter starts scratching at windows and bushes nearby? All of that is a combination that makes me antsy.

The monster spray can be added to any bed time routine either after bath time or just before book reading or even just before lights out. As part of guiding my child’s feelings and intuition, I always ask, “How are you feeling about bedtime?” and I watch for their response.

Sometimes we are great, other times we are scared, while sometimes I get an “I Don’t Know”. I follow this up with, “Would you like to use the spray?” Again, I get a large range of answers from an enthusiastic yes! to meh, no thanks.

Keep in mind that Monster Spray is what we call ours. What you call it can be anything! Monster-B-Gone, Sleepy Time Spray, Super Hero Spray. Anything that gives your kid confidence and reassurance is a-okay. Your kiddo may even give it a name themselves.

What you’ll need for the spray:

Spray bottle (plastic or glass)

Distilled water

Essential Oil – 10 drops (I prefer Sage or Lavender)

Pinch of Salt

Combine all ingredients into the bottle and shake to mix. Each time you use this be sure to shake to remix the ingredients. Oil and water will separate eventually.

Typically, you’ll want to spray into the air or corners of the room. Some essential oils can stain so be sure to spray at least foot away from pillows and covers.

Below is a chant I created that works for my own family. It’s a bit silly and rhymes so its easy to memorize and say for little ones. Once you’ve shaken the bottle, spray a couple of times while repeating:

Monster Spray Chant:

“Goodbye! Be gone, it’s time to sleep!

Go away and count some sheep!”

That’s all there is to our monster spray. I can’t say that this will always solve your problems or that your little one will always have better sleep. But sure does help us and the room ends up smelling better than before!

Feel free to explore other areas of my site and if you’d like pop over to this About Me. I’d love to get to know you!

]]>http://motherearthkin.com/mamas-witchcraft-go-away-spray/feed/0Top Five Registry Items for New Momshttp://motherearthkin.com/top-five-registry-items/
http://motherearthkin.com/top-five-registry-items/#respondFri, 28 Sep 2018 16:03:37 +0000http://motherearthkin.com/?p=2350Okay, so you or someone you know is expecting a bundle of joy and like we all do you went to the internet to research and find lists. Perfect! Except there’s a million lists and opinions. Who knows which is right and which will be THE perfect list for you? Take a deep breath and… Read More Top Five Registry Items for New Moms

]]>Okay, so you or someone you know is expecting a bundle of joy and like we all do you went to the internet to research and find lists. Perfect! Except there’s a million lists and opinions. Who knows which is right and which will be THE perfect list for you?

Take a deep breath and drop your shoulders for a minute.

I’ll warn you right now; no list is perfect. No product is perfect. Truthfully, finding what works for your little one is going to be a bit of trial and error and raw gut intuition. Okay, a LOT of trials and they change the rules without notice. (I have 4 different types of bottles and 3 different brands of sippy cups. Only one bottle brand has worked so far.) I promise you I’m in it as well.

With all that said, I am going to pitch my list at you because it’s what worked for us. In those 3am research moments, I found all these various items and eventually landed on what worked for my kiddo. (Also, doing trades with other moms can help too.) They say variety is the spice of life so hopefully my list is slightly different than the last you read. If it is the same, well, then that’s just two people who agree that this item is a good product.

Read below for my top five registry items. This list does not include the big items like car seats or cribs. Those items are obvious needs and really deserve their own post and attention. Let me tell you of my not so obvious needs in those early days.

(Disclaimer: Below are some affiliate links which means if you choose to buy I would receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please see my Privacy and Disclosure Policy for more details.)

This was the easiest one for us to use with our Little Bear. The nurses at the hospital were geniuses at swaddling with a blanket. We laughably struggled and struggled at home to do the same. (We had a ton of blankets from our shower.) Some time, a day after he was home, we went out and bought 2 packs of these. He loved it! He also lived in them for at least 3 weeks. Then until he could rollover, he would sleep in them. So worth it!

Leachco Podster!
There are a couple of versions of the podster. Leachco makes this one. Boppy makes another. The most stable one we found was the Leachco. It is not a cheap item ($50!) but we used it for months and even now he likes it as a sitting item and pillow. It is *not* designated as sleep safe, however we definitely used it for a nap or two when it was the only thing that would keep him asleep besides our arms.

Munchkin Silicone Spoons!
While this was not an immediate need, these spoons became very useful even before baby food. He loved grabbing and manipulating these spoons. And because they are so soft and flexible it also worked in the place of a teething ring. (Most of which, he was not a fan of!)

WubbaNub Pacifier!
We, like most parents, thought we would have a plan. Little Bear and I were establishing our breastfeeding pattern and all the experts say, no bottles or pacifiers early on. They cause the dreaded “nipple confusion”. Luckily for us, Little Bear was flexible enough to switch from bottle to breast to pacifier and back. The only pacifier he liked was the Advent Soothie which is what is attached to the WubaNub. A lifesaver when he needed a soothing technique other than my breasts. (Some nights were owie.)

Boppy Nursing Pillow!
Whether you breastfeed or formula feed this pillow was a lifesaver on our arms when holding our little one. It was easy to transport places or tuck around an armchair or bedpost. My husband’s youngest brother is 17 but had no experience with babies. We could easily tuck this around him and train him on how to hold our little one. A later use of this pillow was for tummy time practice and sitting up practice!

So whether you are a mom looking for answers or just a great friend or family member looking for registry ideas, I hope my list helped you! These items were key life savers for our little family. They are also items with multiple functions which suits my frugal sensibilities very nicely.